Monday, April 20, 2020

American Crucible Article – April 25, 1947

During all the years that I lived in Lorain, I’probably passed this building at 1305 Oberlin Avenue, just north of the railroad tracks, thousands of times. Of course, many of you recognize it as the home of American Crucible.
But I never knew what was manufactured there.
That’s why I was happy to find the article below, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on April 25, 1947. It provides a capsule summary of what the company did – which is manufacture bronze parts.
A few of the employees are mentioned in the article, including C.H. Herzer, general manager and secretary-treasurer; William Horan, metallurgist; and Miss E. B. Kolbe, laboratory technician.

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My copy of Our Town – The Story of Lorain (published in 1953 by Lorain City Schools) has a nice paragraph on American Crucible. It reads:
The American Crucible is one of the city’s younger industries. It was originally organized in Elyria in 1919. It came to Lorain after the Hoffman Heater Company moved from its plant near the Nickel Plate Railroad tracks. The plant includes a foundry, machine shop, pattern shop, core shop, melting room, receiving and shipping rooms in addition to the general offices. In normal times the company employs about seventy-five men. The company produces bearings of bronze and brass. It specializes in transportation bearings which are used by automobile and plane manufacturers. The bearings may range in weight from a fraction of an ounce to several tons. They may be smaller than a jewel in a watch, or so large that one cannot be loaded in an ordinary freight car.
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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 20, 2020 at 9:12 AM

    My Grandfather worked there for 40+ years. I remember him talking about making giant gears for elevators. Anytime we were in a elevator, we had to be quiet so he could focus on the smoothness and silence of the elevator. Apparently, checking his "quality of work".

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  2. -Alan D HopewellApril 20, 2020 at 11:04 AM

    I never knew what they made, either.
    After all these years, you've still got your Lorain History book?

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  3. Dan BradyApril 20, 2020 at 12:17 PM

    It’s a spiral bound reprint, it was part of a book/video package deal that the Black River Historical Society ran years ago.
    It’s a little different from the one we used at Masson in 7th grade but same basic information.

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  4. AnonymousApril 20, 2020 at 12:49 PM

    Cool story and manufacturing history.Now the only history that todays kids can achieve is working at Bug Lots or Wal Mart.I think we all need a time machine to take us back to when the USA was the superpower that she used to be.Machine shops on every corner.Little mom and pop grocery stores all over.Every auto was American owned and built.Steel mills working at full capacity.Shipyards building vessels to be sold to other countries,not the other way around.Toy manufacturers building real quality toys in the USA.Then we all got sold out by "The Man".

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  5. alexApril 21, 2020 at 10:31 AM

    Wasn't this spot where they made metal toys that you covered a while back in one of your posts Dan?

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  6. Dan BradyApril 21, 2020 at 5:13 PM

    Hi Alex,
    The Mascon Toy Company was on Broadway. Here’s the link to that post:

    https://danielebrady.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-steel-stamping-companymascon-toy.html

    And here’s the link to an article about the company:
    https://danielebrady.blogspot.com/2013/12/mascon-toy-co-article-oct-28-1968-part-1.html

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